This summer I am working for Sanders Environmental. I will be catching bats with mist nets in three states; Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia. The most challenging aspect will be getting myself on "bat time" which is going to sleep at 2 or 3am and waking up around noon.
I drove to PA on Wednesday after my last rabies vaccine. The trip was twelve hours! I made it ten and stopped for the night. Thursday I woke up and drove the remaining two hours and started work around noon. I learned how to label the net bags, nets and transfer them without tangeling. There were hundreds to process. I am thankful for my job in Admissions because I have learned how to discipline myself and sit to do one job for a few hours. About two hours after I arrived another technician arrived. Her name is Lindsey. I am so thankful that she got here the same day I did! It was so much less awkward to have another person with me. We both learned how to string up mist nets, repair some holes, and take them down properly. All in all we worked for about six hours the first day. I am slowly trying to convert myself to "bat time." I made sure I stayed up until 11pm at least (even though I was tired at 8:). The plan is a little later each night.
Day two. Lindsey and I woke up around 10 (we tried to sleep in) and went to walmart to get rubber boots and alarm clocks. Around noon we started sorting the rest of the nets. That unfortunately didn't last long. The next 4-5 hours were spent repairing nets. (I can say nets plural but only barely. We only did two!) One of the nets had two broken main lines and about two dozen holes. What a process!
More tomorrow.
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